Granted, for the student who does not want to settle dealing with windows+pc problems, and can muster up a stack, this makes perfect sense.

I was in the same situation back in 06, when I got mine for HS grad, and it is a 1.83 Intel Core Duo, with upgraded 2gb ram and 250gb hd (=~$100), and I use mine for live DJ'ing... and it handles most of what I ask for.
(want more processor speed, yes)

So I say go for that slick sony the dude posted earlier if you really want hardcore computing for your $. If you are ready for a mac, what a great way to slide in...

Originally Posted by whereswaldo

My friend just bout a MacBook, he will be pissed

tell him to go return it, standard 2 week return, and when new updates come out, they usually will go as far as a month...worth it for sure.

They used to be but they're pretty much on par with a decent Windows laptop. I want to switch from my MBP to a Sony Vaio as I prefer Windows 7 and the programs I need are on Windows only. The prices of the decent Vaio's are higher than the MBP's, I was like wtf. Looking at the S and Z series as 15" is too big and I want a 13" for portability.

They used to be but they're pretty much on par with a decent Windows laptop. I want to switch from my MBP to a Sony Vaio as I prefer Windows 7 and the programs I need are on Windows only. The prices of the decent Vaio's are higher than the MBP's, I was like wtf. Looking at the S and Z series as 15" is too big and I want a 13" for portability.

I recently got a Sony Vaio F series, for all my friends i've been recommending the CW and E series as it satisfies all their needs and then some. The CW is 14" i believe

Originally Posted by awesomeiPod

I could just get that since their processor has similar speeds to the MBP, but I still prefer the MBP.

a 2.4GHZ Core 2 DUO IS NOT COMPARABLE to a 2.4GHZ core i5 processor.
It's like comparing a 3.0L engine from five years ago to a 3.0L engine today. Completely different processor architecture. An i5 is significantly faster than a core 2 duo Which is an OUTDATED processor

Lol, graphics card sucks either way. I thought all MBP's had dedicated graphics.
Still a MBP is better. Backlit keyboard, twice the ram and a SD card slot which is worth the extra £150 and imo it's better looking as well. £700 would have been a decent price.

Also Apple should switch to ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 series for the 15" MBP

agreed... they should switch to ati... are the ati mobile cards capable of dts hd and dolby true hd through the mobile versions? anyone know?

a 2.4GHZ Core 2 DUO IS NOT COMPARABLE to a 2.4GHZ core i5 processor.
It's like comparing a 3.0L engine from five years ago to a 3.0L engine today. Completely different processor architecture. An i5 is significantly faster than a core 2 duo Which is an OUTDATED processor

I'm sorry, but I'm comparing it to the mid-2009 model which I currently own. (2.53 GHz Intel Core Duo 2)

Asking for help is different from being stupid. Fanboys can rot in @#$%!

I'm sorry, but I'm comparing it to the mid-2009 model which I currently own. (2.53 GHz Intel Core Duo 2)

No matter when your computer is from, the point still stands as valid. It's still an apples to really stale pears compaarison.

Blame apple for charging you premium dollar for old tech. I'm not saying that ignorantly, I paid 2500 for two CTO MBPs (1.1, 4.1). The 2.5 in your 2009 is for all purposes the same processor that I had in my Early 2008 Model.

They used to be but they're pretty much on par with a decent Windows laptop. I want to switch from my MBP to a Sony Vaio as I prefer Windows 7 and the programs I need are on Windows only. The prices of the decent Vaio's are higher than the MBP's, I was like wtf. Looking at the S and Z series as 15" is too big and I want a 13" for portability.

Pretty much on par? Not even close. What is the price of a Macbook Pro with the i7 processor?

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For the hardware the sony absolutely blows the macbook, However it depends how you use it. For normal college use a macbook is absolutely enough, but if you do any actions that are demanding on computer recourses I strongly recommend the Sony E series.
I for example like to game and do lots of movie/song conversion and would pick the sony E series.
For the 5 year period, in my opinion I don't believe the macbook has the hardware to go the distance